“That’s sad.”
“Goes with the territory,” he repeated with a shrug.
“It’s still sad,” DeeAnn said, and she didn’t sound judgmental or condescending at all.
“It is,” Jason agreed.
“Have you thought about what you wanna do? After, I mean.”
It took him a second to figure out what she meant. “Not really. You?”
“Teach,” DeeAnn said. “Kindergarten or first grade. It’ll never happen.”
He glanced at her. “Why not?”
“First, I’d need a college degree.”
“Isn’t that part of the plan?”
“Well, yeah.” She fiddled with the temperature, turning the fan up high, then right back down again. “Then I’d have to get hired, and you know they do thorough background checks.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m the one who took the money and ran. Can I ask you something?”
He nodded, avoiding making a promise to answer her questions.
“Would you have pursued me if I hadn’t taken the money?”
“No.”
A long sigh. “Damn.”
“You sound surprised,” Jason said.
She shook her head in disbelief. “I thought for sure I’d be hunted down as a witness.”
It was Jason’s turn to shake his head. He should have known that a law-abiding citizen like DeeAnn wouldn’t have taken the money simply because it was there.
“I wouldn’t have come after you,” he told her. Nope, he’d have gone to confront AJ, where the Jack Rebels would have been lying in wait. “That’s me, though. If you’d blabbed, I’d have handled it later.”
“Charming,” DeeAnn muttered, but there was no bite to her reproach.
“The Jack Rebels, on the other hand? They’d have hunted you down. You were smart to take the cash. Without it, you’d be dead by now.”
“And without you.”
“True. But we make a kick-ass team.”
“Thank you, Jason.”
He glanced over at her again. “What for?”
“Not knocking me unconscious and leaving me.”
“Is that still an option?” he asked, and DeeAnn snorted.
“What about you?” she asked a few minutes later. “Tahiti?”
“Probably not. I’ll play it by ear, see what my options are.”
She was fidgeting with the hem of her denim skirt. “Are we going to see Shot because I said I wanted to go my own way? Because it’s fine by me if it takes three weeks to figure this out in a safe way.”
“I just don’t see the point in waiting.”
“All right.” DeeAnn’s light tone didn’t hide her confusion.
Jason shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He’d planned to tell her about AJ and the other murders, but now he was glad he hadn’t. It would only freak her out. However, it meant he no longer had a partner to chew things over with.
He turned up the podcast.
After a greasy, salty dinner, Jason let DeeAnn drive. “This is better,” she said. “I have my license with me.”
“And I’ve got all three of mine,” Jason said. He noticed she was driving just under the speed limit.
“Do you think anything would happen if you got pulled over and showed your real license?” she asked. “Are you on a list? Maybe as a person of interest?”
Jason grunted rather than answer. He didn’t like thinking about that.
“What are the precautions you’re taking with Shot?” DeeAnn asked. “I can’t make you tell me, but knowing would help me relax.”
“For one thing, he doesn’t know I’m coming.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He’s expecting you. In three days. Well, he’s expecting a woman. He doesn’t know who you are.”
“Three days. That’s why you’re in such a hurry to get there. You want to show up before he can plan anything.”
“And I’m going to borrow a page from your playbook. I want to stash most of the money somewhere safe.”
“Where?”
“Well, I was thinking a locker in a train station.”
“Or a safe-deposit box. That’d be more secure.”
“For those, you have to show identification. I’d rather avoid that at this point. The station I have in mind, you can rent lockers located in the middle of the main hall. No one can fuck with them without drawing attention.”
“You really thought this through,” DeeAnn said.
“Figured I should make the most of my insomnia.” Thinking about how he couldn’t sleep made Jason yawn, and he settled back in the seat.
DeeAnn restarted the podcast, which was about space travel. They’d fallen down a rabbit hole after the Mars episodes.
Jason’s eyelids grew heavy. He slept in spurts and finally drifted off, waking up when DeeAnn pulled up to a gas station pump.
He was out before she shut off the engine, prepaid MasterCard in hand. DeeAnn headed for the bathrooms. When she still wasn’t back before he finished pumping, he moved the car closer to the restrooms.
DeeAnn walked out, wiping her hands on her skirt. Wind played with the edges of her hair. She didn’t spot him right away, so he had a moment to watch her, unobserved.
I’m going to miss her.
He sat bolt upright at the unexpected thought, then shook his head. DeeAnn had spotted him and now she walked his way. His gaze involuntarily swept down the length of her body, taking in the way her shirt stretched across her breasts and how her hips swayed with every step.
She opened the passenger door just as Jason was getting out. “I can keep driving,” she said. “I’m wide awake.”
“No need. I’ll be back in a minute.”
DeeAnn nodded and bounced into the car.
When Jason returned, he caught DeeAnn checking him out, a hungry little smile on her face. He pretended not to notice.
Too bad they needed to get to Shot as soon as possible. Spending a few more days, taking the drive a bit slower, could have been fun.
The next morning, even though they got a late start, they reached the outskirts of Madison exactly on time, a few minutes before six.
DeeAnn was nervous about having left the money in a locker.
She’d made a show of taking off her sweater and shoving it into the locker, of trying to look like a clueless tourist who didn’t want to lug her things around all day. Now she had her arms folded and her legs crossed. One foot bobbed almost nonstop.
Jason brought the car to a stop in front of a ramshackle fence that reminded him of a delirious smile, one in need of a bleaching session and implants.
“I bet there are new kinds of rabies in those woods,” DeeAnn said, eyeing the forest behind the house.
Last night, after two sweaty hours of exploring each other’s bodies, they’d snuggled in bed and examined Shot’s house online. The wooded area stretched over some twenty acres, but the neighbors were closer than Jason would have liked. Close enough to hear screaming, certainly.
Jason didn’t share that observation with DeeAnn. He didn’t expect screaming, or any trouble at all, but it was good to be prepared.
As they got out of the car, DeeAnn shot him a worried look.
“It’ll be fine,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He whispered into her ear, “Whatever I say in there, just go with it. We’ll be gone soon.”
DeeAnn nodded, and Jason wondered if bringing her along had been a mistake. He could have stashed her somewhere, brought the necessary photos of her. That would have raised a lot of questions with Shot, though.
Fuck it, Jason thought. He grabbed DeeAnn’s hand. “I’m taking you to a hotel. You don’t need to be here for this.”
Chapter 34
I stare up at Jason. “Why are you changing the plan now?”
“You’re jumpy, and that’s going to make Shot nervous.”
“I’m calm. See?” I hold up my hand. “No shaking.” I attempt
to walk around Jason, but he thwarts me easily.
A door opens on rusty hinges.
“You lost?” a man’s voice says. I never knew those two words could sound so threatening. Jason is blocking my view, but I’m certain the man is pissed off.
Jason’s face hardens, and he turns.
“Looking for Shot…” His words trail off.
I step to the side to look at the man walking toward us. He’s wearing sweatpants cut off at the knees and a T-shirt that’s a size too small for his belly. The thin flip-flops on his feet probably came from the dollar store.
But the stranger is all grins, and when he reaches Jason, they bump through an awkward handshake-hug.
“You didn’t recognize me!” the man says. “Three years ain’t that long.”
“I knew you,” Jason says, his voice more of a relaxed drawl than what I’ve been hearing the last couple of days. How did he speak when I first met him? I can’t remember.
“You’ve been keeping in shape,” the man says. His blue eyes remind me of a fish on a platter. There’s something flat and dead about them. But his smile seems genuine as he slaps Jason’s stomach. To me, the man says, “Believe it or not, I used to bench more than this guy.”
“This is Holly,” Jason says. “Holly, this is Shot.”
“Nice to meet you,” I murmur, but all I can think is Holly? Why didn’t Jason warn me? Or did he decide this on the spot for some reason?
If so, is there a threat that I’m not picking up on?
But Jason seems relaxed, seems happy to see his old friend.
“Mi casa,” Shot says, walking duck-toed up the porch steps. His feet are dirty, I notice, his toenails ragged and too long. Even though Jason is next up the steps, I can smell that either Shot’s been drinking, or he spilled alcohol on his clothes.
That must be what Jason picked up on when they greeted each other.
“Didn’t expect you tonight,” Shot says.
“Hope that’s no trouble,” Jason says, but he doesn’t sound apologetic the way I would if I were saying those exact same words.
Jason’s entire demeanor is… flat. And now I recognize it. He was like this around Toby. Around me, too, until we got to know each other.
Shot bangs through the screen door. A brindle pit bull walks over to investigate. She gives me a thorough sniff, her wet nose nudging my bare shins.
“Off, Wabash,” Shot says, and the dog slowly turns and walks away, her skinny cord of a tail hanging. “Took her off a guy who was fighting her. I’m not saying she’s the smartest dog I’ve ever met, but she let me know I had company.”
“I didn’t hear a dog barking,” I say.
“She don’t bark. She growls, low.” Shot makes a rumbling sound in his chest. “Anita thinks a loud dog would be better, but me, I like being quietly forewarned.” He looks at me with those dead-fish eyes. I manage a smile.
“You’re still with Anita,” Jason says. “How’s she doing?”
Shot, who is leading us through a surprisingly well-appointed house, swings back to give Jason a look. “She’s fine. Heavier, but it went to the right places.” He hefts invisible boobs. “Won’t shut up about a baby, though.” He lowers his voice.
I don’t catch what he says next, but it’s something like “If you’d come in another month, she’d be gone.”
Nice friend, I think. But really, Shot is about what I was expecting. More in the Toby style of criminal, except Shot gives the impression of being smart. It’s nothing he’s said. Rather, how he moves, how he greedily notices details and files them away.
Now we’re in a kitchen. From the outside of the house, I’d have predicted cracked linoleum, a dripping rusty faucet, and a kitschy Formica table and vinyl chair set, reupholstered in a psychedelic floral pattern.
The kitchen is nice. Shiny modern appliances, a gorgeous butcher block next to a porcelain sink. It’s also spotless.
Lingering on the dining room threshold, I evaluate Shot with new eyes.
“It’s Anita’s doing,” he says. I feel unclothed, like he was reading my thoughts. “Me, I’m a simple man. Just give me a place to park my butt and a trash can for the takeout containers.” He laughs heartily.
I smile and vow to keep my head down and my mouth closed. The sooner we get out of this place, the better.
The back door opens and a petite woman with beige-brown skin and smooth black hair enters. Her arms are full of tomatoes. She looks just like a girl I knew whose family came from Peru. She was in all the smart-kid classes and a bit of a snob, though always nice to me. She mentioned her heritage about fifty times in her valedictorian speech.
“Friends or business?” the woman asks, placing the tomatoes on the counter.
When she turns and sees Jason, her face illuminates. “Jason!” She throws her arms around him and squeezes.
“Hey, Anita,” Jason says affectionately when she lets him go. I hate myself for feeling jealous of these people who know Jason better than I do.
“Only friends are allowed in the kitchen,” Shot says. To Jason he adds, “That’s her rule.”
“One you never follow.” Anita has pulled a woven basket out of a cupboard and is gently transferring the tomatoes into it. I want to like her. She seems genuine. But I don’t trust Shot, and therefore I can’t trust her. I mean, I assume she’s with him of her own free will.
And you’re sleeping with Jason. Does that mean you’re not trustworthy?
I think about that for all of two seconds before conceding that yes, it probably should mean exactly that. I mean, I’m not a total hypocrite.
Jason is giving me a funny look. I glance around and notice that Shot is gone and Anita is looking at me expectantly.
“Sorry?” I say. “Didn’t sleep much last night.”
Anita bursts out laughing. “I thought that was stubble-burn on your neck. I was asking if you’d like an iced tea.”
“Jesus, Anita. Offer her a real drink.” Shot has returned, and he’s carrying a shallow plastic box about two feet long and a foot wide. He drops it loudly onto the polished wooden table.
Anita looks like she wants to hit him over the head with something, and I wonder if their impending breakup will be mutual. She’s pretty, with show-stopping curves, like she was poured into her white jeans and pink halter top.
“Iced tea would be great,” I say. The more I like Anita, the more I dislike Shot. Or maybe it’s the other way around, and my increasing dislike for him makes me feel bad for her.
I watch as she flits gracefully around the kitchen, filling glasses with ice, then opening the refrigerator door and taking out a pitcher. It’s distracting how much she resembles my old classmate.
Anita fills the glasses, adds slices of lemon and metal straws.
She opens two beers and slams them down on the table. Neither Jason nor Shot look up from whatever they’re doing. I wander closer, curious to see what’s inside the plastic box, but Anita presses a glass of iced tea into my hand.
“Let’s sit outside,” she says, then leans closer and adds, “I’ve got some pretty good weed. There’s not much left, but it’s powerful stuff. I’ll share.”
My jaw practically drops. I can count on one hand the number of times someone has offered me drugs. With the exception of the perv who used to sell to everyone in my class—and despite what all the anti-drug videos promised, he wasn’t giving anything away for free—the number is now twice.
The first time was the day before Dad’s funeral, when Auntie Love insisted on giving me some little pills. Something to help me sleep, she’d said. I’d slipped them back into her hand when she was leaving.
This is the second time. I haven’t smoked in over a year, and right now, getting a little buzzed sounds excellent.
A knowing smile on her crimson lips, Anita opens the fridge and takes out a white cardboard box, the kind fancy pastries come in.
“We’re going outside,” she tosses over her shoulder. “If you need something, get
it your damned self.”
Shot doesn’t look up, but Jason does. A deep V of worry is etched between his brows, but he gives me a nod. Is he encouraging me to go with Anita, or is he telling me that everything is going to be fine?
“Are you coming or what?” Anita asks, and I practically jump to follow her.
Chapter 35
“Birth certificate and driver’s license,” Shot said. “Are you sure you don’t want the passports?”
Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “How much are we talking?”
“Eh.” Shot dropped the examples of his handiwork into the box. Jason could have done without the whole show. He knew Shot did good work. And even though Jason was trying to make it clear he didn’t have much cash to spend, he could tell that Shot believed otherwise.
What Jason couldn’t figure out was if Shot had been in touch with someone back home, or if Shot simply knew there was no way in hell Jason could be broke.
“Twelve hundred for both passports,” Shot said. “Can’t go any lower. You know how it is.”
Jason almost asked how much one passport would cost, but he paused. He wasn’t really planning to leave the country, and if he did, he would need a purchased passport, not a stolen one. It was more secure in the long run.
“How long will the passports take?”
“Not long. There’s no shortage of white meth-heads.”
“Addicts?” Jason said. “Thought you drew the line there.”
“It’s a sweet business. It hooks into everything. I sell the drugs, and when they run out of money and want to get creative, I can help with that, too.”
“Brilliant strategy.” Jason tried to seem impressed, but the words sounded slightly hollow to his own ears. Shot didn’t seem to notice.
“Yeah, well, back home, everything’s all locked down. They wanted me making fake driver’s licenses until the day I died.” He slapped the backs of his fingers on Jason’s shoulder. “Surprised you didn’t break free sooner. Where you gonna set up shop?”
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